Pete Zavala and Joseph Harrison, though veterans from wars a decade apart, have served and lived in some of the same places, and on Sunday, Nov. 11, both will be honored at the same event, the Redlands Veterans Day parade.

Zavala served in the California Guard during the Korean War, attaining the rank of corporal. He is this year’s grand marshal.

Mike Warren, parade chairman, said the parade has had grand marshals who have served in various other military conflicts, but Zavala will be the first from the Korean War.

This year, Warren said, “we wanted to remember and honor those who served in the military during the Korean War.”

After graduating from Banning High School in 1948, Zavala joined the Guard’s 40th Division stationed in Beaumont. They were shipped to Camp Cooke, now Vandenberg Air Force Base, a few months after the war broke out. Zavala trained there with other men until being shipped to Japan in June 1951.

They stayed at a camp at the base of Mt. Fuji for the summer, then moved north of Sendai for winter training. On Feb. 3, 1952, he landed in Inchon, Korea. It was 16 degrees below zero.

“You just did what you could do,” Zavala said of how the soldiers dealt with the temperatures. “For lunch we opened up our C rations, and they were frozen.”

He spent three tours on the front lines, and came back in May 1952. In October of that year he moved to Redlands where he met his wife, Jessie. They have been married for 63 years, and have two children.

Since 1959, he has been a member of American Legion Post 650 in Redlands, where he has been a commander twice, and a captain of the honor guard for 45 years. He became a member of the Redlands Police Department’s Citizen Volunteer Patrol 18 years ago, and he still volunteers, directing traffic and closing streets during car crashes, fires or police activity.

“Pete’s quite a guy,” Warren said. “He’s a real good representative of the veterans that we have here in Redlands.”

Joe Harrison, of Banning (Courtesy of Lori Harrison)

Harrison, a Banning resident, will be riding in a jeep in the parade. He was a private first class with the U.S. Marines and spent three years in combat during World War II. He was a member of Carlson’s Raiders battalion and saw six combat landings including the islands of Bouganville, Guam, and two landings on Okinawa.

“Joseph Harrison is quite a hero from World War II,” Warren said. “We’re really glad he’s in the parade.”

According to his granddaughter, Lori Harrison, he participated in the initial landing and occupation of Japan and was one of the first Marines into Tokyo before the armistice was signed.

“He’s an amazing man,” Lori Harrison said. “He’s 95 years old. Still drives, and he’s a great guy. We’re really proud of him.”

The parade begins at 9 a.m. Sunday at Redlands High School, 840 E. Citrus Ave. It will travel west to Jennie Davis Park, at the corner of Redlands Boulevard and New York Street. A ceremony at the park is set for 10:45 a.m. and will be followed by family activities. A dinner and dance for veterans and their families is set from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Redlands Elks Lodge, 663 New York St.

A lifelong Inland resident, Jennifer Iyer started working in journalism at The Press-Enterprise in 2000. She has written (and shot photos for) stories on wildflowers, camping with a dog, and many community events, and as a videographer covered wildfires and war games to blimp rides and camel racing from Temecula to Big Bear Lake, Twentynine Palms to Jurupa Valley.